Counting mechanism



c; F. BALDWIN. COUNTING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION ,FILED NOV.22, I920.

Patented May 2; L922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET INVENTOR ATTORNEY C. F. BALDWIN.

COUNTING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED NOV.22, 1920.

Patented May 2, 1922.

2 .SHEE YS-SHEEI 2.

A TTORNE Y UNITED STATES cnnrenron r. BALDWIN, or .S'LLCUIS, missoom.

coon-TING mncnamsm.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May2,1922.

Application filed November 22, 1920. Serial No. 425,886.

To all whom it may concern:

. Be it known that I, CREIGHTON F. BALD- WIN, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing in the city of St. Louis and State of Missouri, haveinvented new and useful Improvements in CountingMechanisms, of.WhlClltllG following is a specification, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings This invention pertains to counting mechanisms foruse in automaticallyregistering the number" of articles,suchas furs orthe like, as same are handled by the operator.

The obj ect'is to provide a relatively simple and ellicient device ofthis kind, whereby the count will be automatically taken care of and theoperator relieved of the need of mentally enumerating the articles. 2

Another object is to provide this mechanisniv supported on a pedestal ina form which may be readily adjusted adjacent any.

ordinary table, the latter being used as a receptacle for the fursorother articles to be counted. i In the drawings: a Figure 1 is afrontalelevation; Figure 2 is a detail of the gate stop; I Figure 3 isan enlarged frontal view of the counter actuating mechanism, showingalso a section of the swinging gate hung therefrom; r

Figure 4 is a top view of the counter actuating mechanism;

Figure 5 is a guard and blade;

Figure 6 is a detail of the immediate counter actuating mechanism,-partly in section.

' Figure 7 is a detail of the upper arm of the escapement stopsupporting arbor.

In constructing the invention, I provide a suitable post 1, adjustablymounted upon'a weighted pedestal 2 having an inwardly extended arm 3 toadmit the support being moved up close to'anyordinary table at one end.The post 1 is slidingly telescoped into the pedestal 2 asshown at 4, thepedestal being chambered out longitudinally to admit the post; and astrap rack 5 is mounted on one face of the post 1, while across thecorresponding face of the pedestal is journaled a shaft 6. Upon themedial part of the shaft 6 is rigidly mounted a pinion gear 7 which isset through the face of the pedestal 2 and into mesh with the rack 5. Atthe inner end of the shaft 6 is rigidly mounted a ratchet wheel 8, andat the outer end a Gran-k9; and a pawl 10 pivoted to the detail oftheescapement" adjacent face of the pedestal acts to prevent the reverserotation of the pinion 7. Thus the post 1 and attached parts may bereadily raised or lowered to adapt thedevice to-tables of varyingheights. 1

Transversely at thetop of the post 1 is mounted a. rod 11, as a supportfor the gate and attached counting mechanism. The

gate 12 may be of any desired form, and is pivotally suspended from therod 11 by means of the encircling rings 13 so that the gate mayoscillate to and fro over the table below. The back ring 13 as shown inFig ure 4 has a portion of its periphery cut away so as to leave a cutout 14with a shoulder 15. 7 Upon the rod 11 adjacent this cut out 14 ispivoted a two pointed cam 16, upon, the pivot pin 17 One leg 18 of thiscam extends into the cut out 14,. and. so that the shoulder 15, willimpinge thereon as the gate 12 swings back and forth. The other leg 19of the cam extends forwardly and clear of the cutout 14.- This leg ispointed at its forward end and upon its inner face adj acent the cut out14, is hinged a compensating finger 20, by means of a horizontal fin21'extended from the angle formed by the leg s18 and 19 into the rearend of the finger 20 and there securedby a pin 22. A pin 23 is rigidlyjoined to the outer vertical face of the finger 20 and passes slidinglythrough leg 19. A head 25 is formed on the freeend of the pin 23' and acoil spring 26 is posia hole 24 cut through the outer point of thetioned over the pin and braced'between the head 25 and. the leg 19. Theouter end 27 of the finger 20 extends beyond the outer point of the leg19, and loosely engages the end of the sliding shaft 28 by means of amortise 29 cut in said end, or'otherwise. The shaft 28 is slidinglymounted on a bracket 30 extended forwardly from the top of the rod 11and fastened thereto with screws 21. At the opposite end of the shaft 28is fixedly joined a guide plate 32 through which is cut an inclinedguide slot 33. retractile' spring 34 extended between the plate 32 and abrace 35' on the bracket 30 serves to normally hold the shaft 28 over 7toward the cam 16. Upon the outer end of the rod 11, adjacent the guideplate 32, is mounted a rack guide-36, supported by the bracket 37 whichis secured by screws 31 to the rod 11. Within this rack guide isvertically and slidingly mounted the stub rack 38, its lower end in meshwith the pinion 39 at the end of the counter shaft 40 and thuscontrolling the counter {iljwhich is of any usual or desired kind and islikewise brackcted at the outer end of the rod 11. From the upper end ofthe stub rack 38 is extended a stud 12 into sliding engagement with theguide slot 33. The adjustment such that each time the inclined guideslot 33 travels outwardly, the stud 42 and attached rack 38 are raisedjust enough to rotate the pinion 39 sufficiently to register the count.of one unit upon the counter 41.

Bracketed also at the outer end of the rod 11 is an arbor &3, the upperhorizontal arm of whichis slotted longitudinally as shown at 14; inFigure 7, and depending through this slot is a thin eseapement stop 45mounted in a sliding guide e16. The guide 46 is held slidingly in placeby the screw heads 47, and a Stiff spring 48 is attached at 4:9 to thevertical leg of the arbor and at 50 to the end of the guide 46, and thusserves to normally hold the stop 45 in central position. The innerVertical edge of the stop 45 is provided with a number of backwardlydirected teeth 51.

Mounted upon the outer. ring 13 immediately below the stop 15 is theescapement guard arm 52, provided with a blade 53.

The stop 45 and blade 58 are disposed at such angles relative to eachother that as the gate 12 swings forwardly toward the table the blade 53will movebackwardly over the teeth 51, and on the return swing of thegate the inclined forward edge of the blade 53 will impinge the oppositeor outer face of the stop 4:5. Thus on the full swing of the gate 12backand forth the blade 53 will pass forward and back of the teeth 51 on thebackward movement of the gate, and backward over the points of the teeth51 on the forward movement of the gate. It will be noted that thebackward movement of the gate is caused by the operator passing furs orother articles to be counted under the gate, and should the operatorfail to move the gate fully backward, sufficient to register upon thecounter 41, then the blade 53 will not clear the teeth 51 but will catchtherein and thus warnthe operatorof his mistake. An angular gate stop 54is rockingly mounted at the inner end of the rod 11., by means of twopins 55 and 56 extended through slots 57 and 58 cut through the arms 60and (31 of the stop and set into the rod 11. Springs 58 and 59 aremounted over these pins. The lower arm 61 depends forwardly of the gateand prevents same from swinging too far forward.

In operation, the furs or other articles to be counted are passedthrough and under the gate one at a time. As the gate swings outward orbackward, the shoulder 15 forces the leg 18 of the cam 16 forwardly,thus causing the outer end 27 of the finger 20 to rock against the endof the sliding shaft 28, the guide platev32 to move outwardly, the stud42 to'move up the slot 33, and the rack to rotate the pinion 39 so as toregister upon the counter 41. As above stated, the escapement guardmechanism described prevents any miscounts by compelling the operatorto-niove the gate to its full swing at each count.

The purpose of the spring pressed compensating finger 20 is to allow thegate 12 to swing fully backward without corresponding excessive lateralmovement in the shaft 28, as the finger 20 will spread apart from theleg 19 of the cam and thus reduce the action against the end of theshaft 28.

lVhile I have herein described a certain specificmethod of constructingand assembling the elements of my invention, it is understood same maybe varied in minor details, not departing from the spirit of myinvention as defined in the appended claims.

hat I claim to be new and patentable is:

1. In a counting mechanism embodying a swinging gate and gate support,an angular stop mounted on the support to prevent the excessive backmovement of the gate, same comprising two arms rigidly joined at rightangles, a slot cut through each arm, a headed pin inserted through eachslot and set in the support at right angles to each other, and a coilspring mounted over each said pin and braced between its head and thesaid support. i

2. In a counting mechanism embodying a gate swingingly mounted on astationary gate support and a counter fixedly mounted on the gatesupport, a cam and sliding shaft mechanism to actuate the counter as thegate is swung, same, comprising a shaft slidingly 5 mounted on the gatesupport and adapted 'to drive the counter, a cam pivoted on the gatesupport with one eccentric point thereof in contact with and adapted todrive the shaft, and a driving element extended from the 11 gate intocontact with another eccentric point of the cam and adapted to drive thecam as the gate swings to and fro.

3. In a counting mechanism embodying a gate swingingly mounted on astationary gate support and a counter fixedly mounted on the gatesupport, a cam and sliding shaft mechanism to actuate the counter as thegate is swung, same comprising a shaft slidingly mounted on the gatesupport and adapted to drive the counter, a compensating cam piV- otedon the gate support and having a spring set element in contact with andadapted to drive the shaft, and a driving element eX- tended from thegate into contact with the cam and adapted to drive the cam as the gateswings to and fro.

'4. A counting mechanism consisting of the combination of a fixedhorizontal rod; a gate swingingly mounted thereon; a pinion-controlledcounter fixed on the rod; a shaft on the rod in mesh with the counterpinion mounted on the rod for longitudinal sgiidinfiz;1 and slidinglyconnected with the guide slot. movement' acam pivoted on t e 10 anconnecting the gate and shaft so that they CREIGHTON BALDWIN move inunison; a guide plate with an in- Witnesses: clined guide slot at theend of the shaft; and ADELE WOMBACKER,

a stub rack mounted for vertical movement CLARA J. MUELLER.

